Sharks defend ex-teammates ensnared in Senators-Uber scandal

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San Jose Sharks’ Chris Tierney (50) is photographed during a break in the action against the Minnesota Wild in the first period of their NHL game at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, December 10, 2017. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

DALLAS — The reputations of two former-Sharks took a major hit this week when they got entangled in a scandal involving team gossip toward an assistant coach on the Ottawa Senators during an Uber ride in Phoenix.

Pete DeBoer, who coached Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo during his first three years behind the Sharks bench, vouched for the character of both players.

Another scandal reared its head in Ottawa this week when a video from an Uber dashboard camera surfaced online, capturing a conversation among seven Senators teammates as they mocked assistant coach Marty Raymond and the team’s 28th ranked penalty kill. Tierney and DeMelo, who were dealt to the Senators in the Erik Karlsson trade earlier this year, were among the players taking the Uber ride on Oct. 29 as the video was being recorded without their knowledge.

“That’s not a reflection of their character. That stuff goes on,” the Sharks coach said. “I’m sure there’s all kinds of Pete DeBoer conversations going on in Ubers all over North America, in different cities, depending on how our team’s going.”

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In the video, players can be seen laughing at the ineptitude of the Senators penalty kill. Chris Wideman and Matt Duchene criticized Raymond’s coaching techniques with the latter stating that he hadn’t paid attention in a penalty kill meeting “in three weeks.” Tierney can heard reading statistics off his phone, confirming just how bad the Senators penalty kill has been this season. He also does a brief impersonation of the coach.

As the team mocked Raymond’s propensity for saying “great question,” DeMelo made a joke suggesting he should ask a “stupid question” that everyone knows the answer to just to elicit the response from his coach.

“It’s really unfortunate. I feel really badly for the coach involved, but I also feel badly for (Tierney and DeMelo),” DeBoer said. “You’re getting a small picture of what they are that isn’t real. They’re good people and character people.”

Both players displayed a lot of character during their tenures in San Jose.

DeMelo showed tremendous persistence after getting bumped out of the Sharks lineup twice in two years despite his stellar play. After DeMelo beat out Mirco Mueller and Matt Tennyson for the Sharks sixth defenseman job in 2015-16, he got sent to the press box for the playoffs after the team acquired Roman Polak at the trade deadline. Then, the Sharks signed David Schlemko in the offseason, leaving DeMelo on the outside looking in once again.

“I’m sure there were points when he was out where he’s sitting there going, the coach is full of you know what. You never see the light at the end of the tunnel,” DeBoer said last March. “He’s earned what he’s got. As a coach, you always appreciate those type of guys.”

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Tierney also earned his DeBoer’s praise last season.

After DeBoer called him out by name on clean out the locker day in spring 2017, Tierney spent his offseason training with former-NHLer Gary Roberts, restructuring his diet and doubling down on his commitment to fitness. The work paid off as Tierney played a key role in the Sharks run to the second round of the playoffs without Joe Thornton last spring, recording career highs in goals (17) and points (40).

“He’s one guy that’s delivered,” DeBoer said last December. “We’re recognizing it and trying to reward that.”

Brenden Dillon, who skated alongside DeMelo on the Sharks third pairing last season, said the video offers an unfair snapshot of his former-teammates.

“If you actually know those guys, you know the type of people they are,” Dillon said. “I really don’t think they meant any harm by it.”

— Tomas Hertl will miss his second consecutive game with a head injury when the Sharks square off against the Dallas Stars Thursday night.

— DeBoer provided a funny anecdote about trying to shut down Thornton in an Ontario Hockey League playoff series back in 1997. At the time, Thornton was a star with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and DeBoer was the head coach of the Plymouth Whalers.

Thornton will suit up for his 1,500th NHL game Thursday.

“Our way to shut him down was to try to get him to fight,” DeBoer said, acknowledging that the culture of hockey has changed in 21 years. “We had an older-tough guy chase him around, and you know what? This is what makes Joe special. He was a 17-year-old kid and he dropped the gloves with the guy at least two or three times in that series, and then beat us, too.

“You don’t get those kind of guys. You get skilled playmakers or you get speed guys. You don’t always get character, skill, speed, toughness, leadership — that package.”

“Well, it’s hard to be Pavelski, it just is,” Montgomery said. “Pavelski’s details are off-the-charts good. Dylan has good details, but they’re not at that level. Maybe he can aspire to be that being around him.”

Montgomery played 28 games with the Sharks during the 2000-01 season.

“I remember being around a good group of guys — guys that cared about each other,” Montgomery said. “The dressing room was tight-knit and a lot of that was led by Tony Granato and Gary Suter.”